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Ladies and gentlemen, we have a game-changer. Aside from everything else that can be said to praise the new Warner Bros. sci-fi thriller Gravity, the first thing that you should know is, you've never seen anything like the visual experience of this film. It's akin to the effects leaps represented by 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and Avatar. So realistic and breathtaking, in fact, that you'll forget you're watching special effects, and feel as if the movie were actually shot in space. But as great as that is, there's far more to praise about director Alfonso Cuarón's masterpiece than just the greatest special effects to yet grace the big screen. Let's look at some of the box office and budget considerations, before I give you my full review.

With a modest $80 million price tag (a surprising figure, because the film looks better than most movies with budgets twice or three times that amount), it should be easy for Gravity to get into the black. It faces little competition on opening weekend, and good word of mouth should help it pick up additional viewership in subsequent weeks.

The film should also be helped by the strong Oscar buzz for director Cuarón, for stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, for the visual effects, for the cinematography, for the sound editing, for the film editing, and for the overall movie itself. I think it's likely to get nods in most of those categories, and should be a lock to win the award for visual effects and sound editing.

With a wide IMAX 3D release, the global box office should receive an extra boost from the higher ticket prices, since this is the sort of movie that will inspire awe when experienced in the biggest, most immersive manner possible. If it does receive strong buzz (as it surely will) and is allowed to remain in the IMAX theaters for a while, then I won't be surprised if it receives a larger-than-usual percentage of receipts from those immersive 3D screenings.

The marketing campaign so far has been excellent, too. The studio released a few extended clips that demonstrate the remarkable visuals and long single-shot sequences, while conveying the concept simply and completely. Some of the clips went viral, spreading on Facebook and Twitter quickly and accompanied by breathless reactions from viewers.

So its box office run should be long and lucrative. Now, how good is it?

Gravity is one of the finest portrayals of space travel in cinema history. The level of technical detail and accuracy is amazing, and Cuarón's use of extended sequences without cuts magnificently enhances the sense of place and realism. If you've seen the IMAX film Hubble 3D, you might have some idea of what to expect with Gravity. The audience experiences the weightlessness and vast distances in space in a way no other film has accomplished before, and the intensity of the experience for the audience causes a greater sense of connection to the characters as they endure one crisis after another. As Bullock gasps for breath and desperately cries for help as she spins uncontrollably away from the shuttle and other astronauts, we move closer toward her until we're actually inside her helmet with her, watching her oxygen levels drop lower and lower.

Much will be said about the visual effects, and rightly so. However, Gravity deserves equal praise for its brilliant use of sound and silence. There are moments of mass destruction in orbit that unfold silently, except for the breath or voice of the characters and the score. Most of the film lacks much in the way of ambient sound, by nature of the environment, so it's important that the filmmakers put as much attention into getting the sound right as they did the perfect visuals. And I cannot imagine the immensity of the work and precision involved in the film editing on this project. On every technical level, it is simply amazing and represents a huge leap forward for visual effects. In the coming years, it will be interesting to see this level of realism applied to other films (as a huge fan of the superhero genre, I salivate at the prospect of such effects work in future comic book adaptations).

Here is an extended trailer, and if you've not seen anything from the film yet, be prepared to be blown away...

But one of the best things about Gravity is that its success isn't just in the technical realms, but also in storytelling and character. The concept itself is simple enough -- astronauts on a routine mission who end up stranded in orbit and must fight for survival. But upon that foundation is built a powerful character arc, given life by Sandra Bullock in a performance that is sure to earn her a second Oscar nomination.

It's a carefully crafted emotional journey for a woman whose life has (due to a tragedy in her past) lost purpose or feeling beyond her work, who isolates and insulates herself from other people, and who must confront her loss and fear and regain a desire to live rather than just exist. Her arc is -- like the survival story itself -- straightforward and not driven by particularly complicated plotting, but rather is driven by great emotional complexity and atmosphere (pardon the expression).

George Clooney's supporting performance takes his usual easy charm and turns it into an important component of the fight to stay alive. With Bullock's novice consumed by fear and the situation around them so precarious, Clooney's veteran astronaut must break through Bullock's emotional wall and convince her of his faith in her inner strength to not only overcome this crisis that's left her drifting in space, but also overcome her inner crisis that left her drifting through her personal life.

Alfonso Cuarón's previous film, the acclaimed Children of Men, demonstrated such virtuosity that we all wondered whether he could top it. With Gravity, we have our answer, and it's a resounding "yes."

You don't have to love sci-fi to love Gravity, you just have to love the power of cinema to provide a transcendent experience.